The Ball
by JeNNiFeR07
Summary: What would have happened if the Captain had never danced with Maria? Would Maria still have run away? Would Elsa still have had that little talk?
1. Chapter 1

The ball at Captain Georg Von Trapp's home was a success. The ballroom was filled

with laughter, smiling faces, and best of all, music. Men and women of all ages filled up

the elegant room. The men were dressed in tuxedos. The women were dressed in elegant

dresses, and children were fancily dressed as well. People were dancing, standing, sitting.

At the front of the house, Captain Von Trapp was greeting his guests and introducing

Baroness Schrader. "Good Evening, Herr Zeller." Captain von Trapp greeted his arch

rival coolly. "Baroness Schrader, this is Herr Zeller. Herr Zeller, meet Baroness

Schrader." Herr Zeller smiled wickedly and said, "How do you do, Baroness." The

Baroness smiled politely. "Fine, thank you. It's nice to meet you." Herr Zeller walked

away, looking around the room critically. Georg looked at Herr Zeller at the corner of his

eye warily. Herr walked into the ballroom, noticing the Austrian flag. He looked around;

spotted someone he was looking for, and walked over. Meanwhile, the children of

Captain Von Trapp were standing at a corner of the ballroom, watching people dancing.

Their governess, Maria Rainer, joined them. "Children, what are you all doing, just

standing? Why don't you dance?" The children looked startled at her question. "Well,

nobody asked us to dance." Kurt explained. Laughing, Maria said, "You don't have to get

asked to be able to dance! Why don't you children just dance with your own siblings?

That way you can dance while having fun, and not having to worry about looking bad."

The children looked at each other skeptically, but after a little bit of urging from Maria,

they agreed. However, they realized that there were five girls, and only two guys. They

decided to take turns. Liesl and Frederick went over to the dance floor, while Kurt went

with Gretl. Liesl and Frederick had no trouble dancing, but Kurt and Gretl realized that

they couldn't dance because of the wide range in their heights. Maria and the rest of the

children laughed while watching Kurt and Gretl attempting to do a dance. After a while

of trying and trying, Kurt and Gretl gave up and walked over to the children. "We give

up." Gretl announced. "Kurt is too tall for me." "And Gretl is too short for me." Kurt

answered grinning. After the music ended, Frederick and Liesl joined them. "You were

right, Fraulein Maria." Liesl said breathlessly. "That was a lot of fun, even though I had

to dance with my brother." Frederick glared at Liesl. "Oh yeah? Well, at least you HAVE

a partner. If I didn't do it, no one else would." Liesl glared back. Before the two got into

an argument, Maria stepped in. "Liesl, Frederick, that's enough! Now apologize to each

other this minute!" Sulkily, the two siblings muttered, "I'm sorry" Satisfied, Maria said,

"Well, does anyone else want to dance?" The other children shook their heads. Sighing,

Maria said, "I tried." Changing the subject, she said, "Is it just me, or is it awfully stuffy

in here?" "It's you" Gretl said, grinning. Maria grinned too. Liesl noticed that Maria

looked a little too pale. "Maybe you should go outside. It'll help you breathe a little."

Liesl suggested. Maria smiled. "Would it be ok with you?" Smiling, Liesl nodded. "Go!"

Obediently, Maria left for the gardens. The children watched the other people dancing

once again. This time, they noticed that children were starting to come in. "Hey! Look!"

Brigitta pointed to some children their age. There were five boys and two girls. The

oldest boy was around Liesl's age. He had sandy blond hair, with blue eyes. The next

tallest boy was around Louisa's age, and brown-haired. Another had brown hair, while

the other two had blond hair. The two girls had curly black hair and green eyes. They

looked to be a little younger than Frederick, but older than Brigitta. As the von Trapp

children stared at the new arrivals, the other children looked around, uncomfortable.

When they noticed the Von Trapps, they walked over to them, hesitantly. "Hello," The

oldest boy said politely. He said this to all the Von Trapp children, but it looked like it

was aimed at Liesl. Liesl blushed, and said, "Hello. I'm Liesl, and this is Frederick,

Louisa, Brigitta, Kurt, Marta and Gretl." The Von Trapps smiled and said hello. The boy

smiled and said, "Hi. I'm Chris. These are my brothers and sisters, Matthew, Markus,

Samantha, Tara, Eric, and Benjamin." His siblings smiled and waved hello. "I'm very

pleased to meet you." Liesl said, smiling at all of them.

Meanwhile, Maria decided to go back to the children. She had gotten some fresh air and

was feeling better. When she reached the ballroom, she noticed the children talking to

some other children. What was interesting, was that all of the children were paired up,

boy and girl. _Hmm… _Maria thought, smiling. She walked over to the children, curious to

know what was going on. Marta saw her approaching and ran over to her. "Fraulein!

Come and meet our new friends!" She said, dragging her fraulein's hand over to the

others. "These are our new friends: Chris, Matthew, Markus, Samantha, Tara, Eric and

Benjamin." She said, pointing to each one as she spoke. Smiling, Maria said, "How do

you do?" The children smiled shyly and said hello. Just then, the music started up again.

Chris immediately turned to Liesl, held out his hand and asked, "Would you like to

dance?" Liesl smiled widely. "I would." She said, and she took his hand in hers and

allowed him to lead her to the dance floor. The other children watched as the two danced

to a waltz. Matthew turned to Louisa and shyly asked, "Would YOU like to dance?"

Louisa turned red, but nodded. The other Von Trapp children giggled, causing Louisa to

turn even more red. Matthew nervously held out his hand, which Louisa hesitantly took,

and Matthew led her to the dance floor, where they also began waltzing. Liesl noticed

Louisa on the dance floor, and shot her a surprised look. Louisa noticed Liesl staring, but

ignored her, and focused on dancing. Too soon, the song came to the end, and the two

couples walked back to the other children. Maria asked, "Did you have a good time?"

The four children smiled and nodded. "Well, why don't you keep on dancing?" The

children's faces lit up, but Liesl hesitated. "Are you sure?" Maria firmly nodded. Liesl

turned to Chris and smiled. "Shall we?" Chris, relieved, took her hand and led her to the

dance floor, yet again. They were soon joined by Louisa and Matthew, Brigitta and

Markus, Gretl and Benjamin, Marta and Eric, Kurt and Tara, and Frederick along with

Samantha. Maria smiled as she watched the children whom she grew to love have a good

time. The Captain was also watching the children, as he had come into the ballroom just

in time to see his children dancing with the children of his friend, Patrick Von Schneider.

He smiled to himself. His children were growing up right before his eyes. The girls were

dressed beautifully, and his sons were as handsome as ever. His eyes drifted to Maria,

also watching them. He saw how beautiful SHE was. He also saw how alone she looked,

despite the happy glow in her face. He decided to go ask her to dance when Elsa showed

up. "Darling," She purred. "We haven't danced at all yet. Shall we dance now?" The

Captain sighed and said, "Alright." He turned to Elsa, offered her his hand, and led her to

the dance floor. Though he was dancing with Elsa, he couldn't help but look at Maria, to

see how she was doing. _Somehow, I'm going to find a way to dance with her._ He silently

vowed. _But for now, I better please Elsa. She is, after all, the person I am going to marry. _

He groaned inwardly. Thankfully, Elsa didn't seem to notice. She began to talk. "Darling,

this is very nice, don't you think?" _oh great. There she goes again…_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Maria watched her beloved children as they danced with their partners. They looked like

they were having so much fun. _I hope the Captain knows how lucky he is to have such _

_lovely children._ Maria thought wistfully. She looked for her employer, and spotted him

dancing with the Baroness. For one moment her happiness disappeared. _What am I _

_doing? Being jealous of my employer… OH BOY I must stop all this nonsense!_ She shook

the thought out of her head. She turned to look at him again, and nearly flipped when she

saw that he was looking at her- looking at her with this strange look in his eye. She

couldn't help but stare back. His intense blue eyes had such an impact on her, she could

hardly breathe. "Fraulein?" Maria broke out of her reverie and looked down to see Marta

tugging at her sleeve. "Yes, darling, what is it?" Marta said, "Fraulein, are you alright?

You looked like you were sick." Maria smiled at Marta gently and nodded. "I'm fine,

Marta. Thank you for your concern." Marta nodded, and said, "Would you like to go

walk around with me? I want to spend time with you, alone." Maria smiled and said, "I

would **love** to spend time with you, Marta." She held out her hand for Marta to take,

which Marta took. Together, they headed for the door that led them to the outdoors.

The Captain watched as his daughter and Maria walked outside, holding hands. He

noticed how much they looked like mother and daughter. He smiled, happy that he finally

found someone who could make his children happy. Maria was the perfect figure for his

children to follow- she was kind, thoughtful, polite, but most of all…. She brought music

back into our lives. Not only was she musical, but she was extremely multi-talented. She

could juggle, compose music, sing beautifully, and play sports well… if only she could

stay here forever. His thoughts were interrupted by the Baroness. "Georg, why did you

stop dancing?" He looked at the Baroness, her face pulled into a pout. "I'm sorry, Elsa. I

got a little, umm, distracted." _Must be thinking of Maria again… _The Baroness thought in

disgust. However, she forced a smile and said, "It's quite alright darling. I think that we

had enough dancing for a while. Why don't we head over to the refreshment stand and

get something to drink?" She was determined not to let him out of her sight. "Uh, sure!

Let's go" the Baroness smiled and led him to the refreshment table, chatting and cooing.

He didn't really want to join her, but he didn't want to displease her. After all, she was

the woman that he was going to marry, or at least, was thinking of marrying. The thought

made him cringe. _Why did I ever want to marry her? She is definitely not someone that _

_my children would want as a mother… and I'm starting to realize my feelings for _

_someone else…_Again, his thoughts returned to Maria. He pictured her sweet smile,

brightening her already perfect face. He remembered her in that blue dress that made her

look breathtaking. He remembered how he couldn't stop staring at her. He was like a

puppy trying to find his mother in a huge crowd. _Oh Maria, I wonder how you feel about _

_me…do you like me as much as I like you?_ He remembered when he and Maria had

looked into each other's eyes earlier in the evening. He felt like they had some sort of

incomprehensible connection. A connection that he never felt before, even with Agathe.

_Oh Agathe, my love. Who would you choose as a mother to our children? Elsa seems to _

_be the perfect match for me- that is, in the eyes of the high-class society. She's charming, _

_witty, graceful, rich, the perfect hostess…but I could never picture her as mother of any _

_children, let alone seven! Than there is Maria, the governess. She is perfect for the role _

_of a mother, yet in society, she is totally wrong for me. _He sighed. He didn't remember

the last time he was this confused. With Agathe, he had absolutely no doubt that she was

the one for him. But, then again, she was the only woman of his life then. Now, he had

two…_Oh what have I done? What have I done? _

"Fraulein Maria?" Marta's soft voice was hardly audible for Maria to hear. "Yes, Marta?"

"Why do you want to become a nun?" Maria smiled. _That was random… _"Well, I love

God very much, and I want to dedicate my life to his service!" Marta pondered for a bit,

then asked. "But, I love God too, and I want to dedicate my life to his service, but I don't

want to become a nun." Maria laughed, the sweet sound of it traveling to the inside of the

ballroom, where the Captain heard it. "Well darling, not everyone has to become a nun to

dedicate their lives to serving God. Some people can sing for God, others can dance,

others can eat, and so on. You just have to use the talent that God has given you."

Marta's little face creased with confusion. "Then why do YOU want to be a nun when

you could just stay here with us, and still serve God?" Maria sighed. _Oh boy, this is the _

_part of children that I don't like- their curiosity. _"Sweetie, I wanted to become a nun

because I felt that was the best way that I could serve God. I knew that I could still serve

God in other ways, but I knew that if I didn't be a nun, I wouldn't be very devoted

because of many distractions. _Like your father. _Maria paused at the thought of the

captain. She continued. "So, in order to serve God wholeheartedly, without any

distractions, I decided that the best way was to go somewhere where everyone else is just

as serious as I am, so that we don't have to be distracted anymore." "Oh" Marta said in a

soft voice. She still looked confused, but she refrained from asking anymore questions

about that topic. They walked silently for a while, just enjoying the company of each

other. The sound of birds chirping in the dark sky, the sound of the orchestra from inside

made the silence comfortable to be in. Finally, Marta spoke. "I'm really going to miss

you when you go." Maria looked sadly at the little child. "As I will, Marta. As I will…"

Meanwhile, the rest of the von Trapp children were tired of dancing, with the exception

of Liesl. They wondered where Marta went. "Did anyone see Marta?" Brigitta asked.

"She went for a walk with your governess." Eric said, as he was the one last seen with

Marta. "Oh ok. Just as long as she's ok." Brigitta said. "Look, there she is!" Gretl said,

pointing towards the doorway. Sure enough, Marta and Fraulein Maria came over to

them. "Hey everyone. How's the party so far?" Maria greeted them smiling. "Good!"

Everyone chorused. Just then, the sound of nice music started echoing in the room.

"What's that they're playing?" Gretl asked. "It's an Austrian folk dance. I forgot the

name of it, but I do remember dancing to it." Maria replied with a faraway look in her

eyes. She remembered the last time she did the dance- it was with Max when they were

about 14. The children noticed that Maria looked like she was in a different world.

Curiously, they asked, "Is there something wrong?" Maria pulled out of her reverie and

quickly said, "Oh no! I was just thinking of the last time I did the Austrian Folk Dance- it

was with your uncle Max." The children looked shocked. Maria laughed and said, "Yes,

your uncle Max used to dance, as a matter of fact, he was quite the dancer if I remember

correctly." The children giggled, trying to picture their beloved "Uncle Max" dancing.

"Where is uncle Max anyway?" Kurt wanted to know. "Oh, I don't know Kurt." Maria

replied. "I haven't talked to him since that day he came over." "What do you mean,

Fraulein? I'm right here!" The children and Maria twirled around to see Max standing

there laughing, along with the Captain. "Max! You came!" Maria said, smiling broadly.

_They had been through so much together when they were little. They had been neighbors _

_before Maria had moved away. _"Of course I came! I didn't want to miss the biggest party

of the year!" The Captain spoke up. "For the food, I presume?" Everyone laughed. "Yes,

definitely the food." Max said grinning. The children giggled again.

Just then, the sound of another Austrian Folk Dance, the Laendler. "Well enough talking!

You children must enjoy the dancing of the Laendler!" The captain said. "But we don't

know how to do it!" Brigitta said. The Captain smiled. "Well, then I'll show you!" He

offered his hand to Liesl. Liesl smiled, took his hand, and they began dancing the

Laendler. The captain showed Liesl some of the steps. After realizing that the others were

watching him, he turned to Maria with a smile. "Do you know it, fraulein?" Maria

nodded. "Would you like to teach the boys?" Maria smiled at that, and agreed.

"Certainly, Captain." She went over to Kurt and offered him her hand. He took it, and

soon followed Maria's instructions. When they got to the ending, the children had a hard

time doing the complicated twirls and such. Then the Captain had an idea. Once again, he

turned to Maria. "Would you like to help me demonstrate the twirls?" Maria hesitated,

but then smiled and said, "Sure." She was about to accept his hand when the Baroness

came up. "Georg, I've been looking EVERYWHERE!" The Captain, a bit annoyed that

she had to come and stop him from dancing with the one that he loved. "I'm sorry, Elsa. I

was with the children." The music stopped to reveal another waltz. _Great. I just missed _

_the opportunity to dance the greatest song of all time with Maria. _"Well, that's alright."

Elsa said smiling. "To make it up to me, why don't we dance to this waltz." It sounded

more like a demand than a request. The captain, seeing no way out of it, said, "Sure!" He

smiled forcefully. He looked over to Maria and mouthed the words, "I'm sorry" Maria, a

bit relieved and disappointed at the same time, smiled and mouthed, "It's ok." She turned

over to the children and said, "I think its about time we head over to the refreshment

stand for a few drinks." The children agreed and left the adults standing there. The

Captain turned to the Baroness and said, "Shall we?" He held out his hand. Elsa took his

hand and led him to some space on the dance floor.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"So darling, I was thinking about when you wanted us to get married..?" Elsa started to say as soon as they entered the dance floor.

The Captain, startled at this, quickly said, "Well, Elsa darling, I haven't really thought of marriage just yet. I plan on staying single for at least another six months, if that's alright with you." _I can't believe she's thinking of marriage when I haven't even asked her yet! How dare she ask me such a question! _He fumed.

Elsa sharply drew her breath at his obvious display of annoyance. "Oh, don't get mad at me, dear. I just assumed that since you invited me into your home, and hosted this ball for me, that we were going to be getting married soon…" Elsa batted her eyelashes flirtatiously.

Georg merely said, "It's alright, Elsa. I'm not mad." He sighed. _No use getting mad at her now._

"Good! Glad to get that over with now." She steered him over to where Maria and the children were standing. "So, when are we going to get married, Georg?" Elsa made an effort to speak loud enough for Maria to hear. _Hah…_She noticed Maria looking a little pale at the corner of her eye.

Upon hearing those words, he completely lost it. "Elsa! I just told you that I'm not prepared to get married just yet! Did I not tell you that just a minute ago?" His voice was dangerously raising its tone of voice. Uptight. Cold.

Maria looked completely shocked at his tone of voice. Her first instinct was to grab his arm and calm him. But then she remembered that it was not her place to do that. Trying to stay in control, she stayed where she was and waited to see what would happen next.

Georg slowly let out a breath, trying to calm himself. He glared at Elsa, and walked away.

Elsa just stared at him, open-mouthed, her face red from embarrassment. The children were desperately trying to stuffle the laughter that arose from their throats, with little success.

Maria immediately scolded them. "Children! That isn't polite!" But she had to admit that Elsa deserved that. She had to keep herself from laughing as well. The Baroness glared at them, and walked away.

After a while the children calmed down, as did Maria. "Phew. I don't remember having this good a laugh in a long time!" Maria said breathlessly. Her cheeks were red from laughter.

"Me either" the children agreed. They started giggling again, but were soon interrupted by their father telling them to go to bed. The children groaned, but obliged. Maria started to go up to follow them, but the Captain laid his hand on her arm. Maria felt a tingle rise in her arm at his touch. She turned to him, and immediately felt her heart starting to pound like crazy. He was standing pretty close to her.

"Would you like to dance?" He asked her with a small smile.

Maria grinned in spite of herself and said, "Are you sure you don't mind having people see that you're dancing with a governess?"

Georg laughed at her comment and said, "They already think I'm crazy. It wouldn't hurt my self-image by dancing with a governess." He offered his hand to her, which she accepted. He then led her to the dance floor, where they began waltzing.

Maria felt a surge of happiness seep into her as she put her hand into his. His hand felt warm. It perfectly fit into hers, like it was meant to be there. When they began waltzing, Maria felt like she was walking on a cloud. Georg felt the same way, and they found themselves just staring at each other, instead of dancing.

Elsa had just entered the ballroom after she recovered from her embarrassment. She looked around the room hoping to find Georg. She knew that he was angry with her, but she also knew that she could probably find a way to get him to be on his good side again.

She frowned when she spotted him at last- with that lowly governess. They were standing face to face, apparently seemingly lost in the other's eyes.

After what seemed like ages, Maria came crashing back into reality. She realized what she had been doing for the past…I don't know how long. She flushed, and said, "Captain…I think that I better go upstairs to make sure that they got settled in ok." She quickly left before he could say anything in reply.

Elsa noticed Maria going up the stairs and was about to follow her to give her a piece of her mind, when Georg called her. "Elsa?" He had spotted her. _Drats. I guess I'll have to give Maria a piece of my mind later. _Reluctantly, she walked over to where he was standing.

"Georg? I know that you're probably going to say that I shouldn't have asked that even though I completely knew the answer…" Elsa let out the words in one breathe when Georg held out his hand to silence her.

"Elsa, since this IS your party and all, I'm not going to humiliate you by getting uptight about this whole thing." He paused. That was all the encouragement that Elsa needed.

"Oh, Georg, I'm so glad that you're not angry anymore! I'm so sorry. Really, I am." She gave him her charming smile, in hopes of getting a smile in return. She didn't get what she hoped for.

"I'm sure you are. But, I'm not finished yet." Georg said. Elsa got a worried look on her face. She waited for him to continue. "Although I'm not going to humiliate you, I think that it's best if we end the party now. I'm not in the party mood anymore, as I'm sure that you aren't either."

Elsa started to object. "But Georg, it's not even midnight! We.."

"No, Elsa! You obviously don't care about other people's feelings, and if we are to get married, that has to change! Which is my nice way of saying that it's highly unlikely that we'll be getting married."

Elsa gasped at those words. Georg ignored her. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry to bear the bad news, but the party will have to end, as the Baroness and I are too tired to continue. Thank you for coming. God bless you all!"

The guests murmured confusion to one another, but didn't argue with the Captain. They slowly filed out, one by one.

At last, all of the guests had gone home. Georg sighed in relief, and turned to the Baroness, who just looked at him in disbelief.

"Go to your room, Elsa. We'll discuss this more tomorrow." With that, he turned and left the room, leaving Elsa all by herself.

Elsa stamped angrily to her room. On her way, however, she noticed that Maria's door was open. She peeked inside to see Maria saying her prayers. In a flash, Elsa knew what to do in order to stop Maria and the Captain from getting together.

She waited until Maria finished. When Maria finally said, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen", Elsa went into the room.

"Hello, my dear." Maria glanced at the Baroness warily.

"Hello, Baroness. What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to be the first to tell you that Georg doesn't approve of your praying. He thinks your crazy to do all that stuff." Elsa bluffed. She watched Maria's reaction.

As Maria heard these words, she found herself denying it. _No, it can't be true. The Captain always prayed before the meals. That must mean that he does approve of prayer! _

Maria shook her head. _Besides, if he didn't like me, he wouldn't have danced with me._

"No, I'm afraid you're mistaken, Baroness. The Captain always says his prayers at the dinner table."

"That's true, but the only reason why he does that is because he needs you to stay! He can't find anyone else to look after his children! Why, you're the only one that stayed for more than a week!" Elsa laughed.

Elsa got into more detail of what the Captain disliked about her religion. As Maria absorbed these words, she found herself believing it. _How dare he! What gives him the right to judge others based on their religion?_ She fumed.

"Why are you telling me this?" Maria asked her shakily.

"Because I thought it would hurt less coming from someone who you don't know too well, rather than from someone whom you care for." _This is getting to be too easy! My my, she certainly is gullible. _

"Well, thanks for your concern. I think that since the Captain doesn't like me and my "religion", then I will just leave and go where my religion is appreciated." Maria went over to her closet and began packing her dresses into the little bag that she came with. Elsa looked around, pretending to be concerned.

"Are you sure you want to leave?"

"Positive." Was Maria's answer

After a moment of silence, Elsa nodded and said, "Well, goodbye Maria. It was nice to have known you. I'm sure you'll make a very fine nun." With that, she closed the door behind her, and headed to her room, grinning all the way there. _One down, one more to go.. _

_There it is! Hope you liked it! R and R! ) _


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

_Here's an update! Hope it satisfies everyone! I don't really know where this is going...but here it is :) Sorry it took me so long!_

Elsa knocked on Georg's door.

"Come in," Came his weary response.

Elsa opened the door and slipped inside. Georg's face hardened when he saw her.

"What is it now, Elsa?" He asked, his voice cold and distant.

"I wanted to apologize, again. I know I was wrong, but I couldn't help myself. You know how I am, right Georg? I mean, we've known each other for years…"

Georg sighed. _She's right. I should have known she would have done that. _"Yes, you're right." He brought his hands to his face in fatigue. "I'll see you in the morning, hmm?"

Elsa smiled. "Alright" She left the room.

Maria finished packing her bag, and was going to leave when she spotted a dress that she had forgotten to pack. Slowly, she picked it up. It was the dress that she had worn when the fight took place. The fight that changed her life…and the Captain's. At the thought of the Captain, she felt herself getting angry again.

Suddenly, a word from the Reverend Mother came to her. She remembered the time she had been angry with one of the sisters for, she couldn't remember what, but the Reverend Mother had said, "Maria, you must remember that it is a sin to get angry, and to judge others."

"…it is a sin to get angry" The words kept echoing in her head. Maria immediately felt shame. _I'm sorry, Lord. _Maria whispered. Immediately, she felt a peace come over her. Suddenly, she knew what she must do.

Going to her closet, she began unpacking her things, one at a time. She was determined to put into action what the Abbey had taught her to do. She would be kind, and act like nothing happened. She would continue to be kind to the Baroness, and the Captain. Just then, she KNEW that somehow the Captain didn't really dislike her religion. She just knew it. With that thought in her mind, she finished unpacking, and fell onto her bed, where she fell fast asleep.

The next morning, Elsa came down the stairs to find all seven of the children, Georg, AND their governess present at the dining table.

Maria saw her first.

"Good morning, Baroness. I trust you slept well?" Maria asked politely.

The Baroness looked at Maria, astonished. "Uh, yes I did." She fumbled.

She looked at Georg, afraid that he found out what she did.

He smiled at her and said, "Wonderful. Care to join us for breakfast?"

Relieved, she nodded, and sat down at her place.

Within minutes of the silence that swept over the room, the children announced that they were going to go for a walk before time for lessons. Georg hurriedly dismissed them. The children left the room, leaving Maria, Georg, and Elsa.

Maria smiled at both of them, and said that she was going to join the children. She was just about to stand when Georg said, "Fraulein, stay here please. There's something that I would like you to here."

Surprised, Maria settled back into her chair. She waited for him to continue.

"Elsa, I find that your actions last night made it quite clear that we are not compatible for each other. Therefore, I think it would be best if we went our separate ways. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you want, until you can head back to Vienna."

Elsa didn't look surprised. "That's fine." Was all she said. _I knew there was no way I could separate those two. Oh well…_

Maria cleared her throat. "Uhh, Captain?" Georg turned to look at her.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Oh yes. Well, it looks like the children will need you until the end of the summer after all! That is, if you're interested in staying."

Maria's face lit up. "Oh yes, sir! That would be fantastic."

Georg smiled at her enthusiasm. "Good! It's settled then."

Maria excused herself, leaving Elsa and Georg to themselves. The two looked at each other awkwardly. Finally, Elsa spoke.

"I know that something is going to happen between you and her. So I suggest that you make it happen soon, or else she'll be gone." With that, she left the room.

The Captain just sat there, dumbfounded. _What did she mean_?

Outside, Maria and the children were having fun playing tag. The sound of their cheerful laughter was music to Georg's ears. He watched them from a window, a peaceful smile pasted on his face.

Elsa walked into the room, her bag in her hand. "Georg," Elsa said, informing him of her presence. Georg turned, startled. "Oh, Elsa. Leaving so soon?" Elsa nodded. "It's better this way. Good bye, Georg. I wish you all the best." With that, she walked away from his life. Forever. Georg watched her go. "Good bye…" He whispered.

Few hours later...

The children were upstairs, doing their lessons for the day.

"I'm tired." Complained Kurt.

"I hate geography." Grumbled Louisa.

Brigitta just sighed with contentment. she was working on something she enjoyed- reading.

Maria sighed as she heard the complaints.

"Children, it's only for a while longer. If you all finish soon, we'll go on a picnic, ok?"

The children immediately set to work. Within a half hour, they were all done.

"We're done!" The children shouted.

Maria laughed. "So i see. Alright, picnic time, as I promised."

THe children cheered. They hurriedly put their things away, went downstairs to get some food, and put on their playclothes in record time.

When all of the children were finished, they went downstairs to wait for Maria.

"Hurry up, Fraulein!" They chorused.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Maria answered. As soon as she appeared, the chlildren practically dragged her outside, where they walked to their favourite place- the mountains.


End file.
